When Rocky Dennis died at age 16, he had already lived more than twice as long as doctors expected — and lived a fuller life than anyone thought possible.
People MagazineRocky Dennis and his mother , Rusty , with whom he deal an incredibly skinny bond .
Rocky Dennis was born with an highly rare ivory dysplasia which make his facial bone lineament to contort and grow at an abnormally quick pace . Doctors told his mother , Florence “ Rusty ” Dennis , that the son would tolerate multiple disabilities because of his disease , and would most likely die before he turned seven .
Miraculously , Roy L. “ Rocky ” Dennis beat the betting odds and live a nearly normal life-time until he was 16 . This is the incredible taradiddle of the boy who inspired the 1985 filmMask .
People MagazineRocky Dennis and his mother, Rusty, with whom he shared an incredibly close bond.
The Early Life Of Rocky Dennis
citizenry MagazineThe first sign of Rocky Dennis ’ rare circumstance did not appear until he was a tot .
Roy L. Dennis , later nicknamed “ Rocky , ” was contain a healthy baby boy on Dec. 4 , 1961 , in California . He had an older half - brother constitute Joshua , Rusty Dennis ’ child from an earlier marriage , and by all accounts , Rocky Dennis had been perfectly healthy . It was n’t until Rocky was a fiddling more than two age old that the first signs of an abnormality come out in his aesculapian exam .
A needlelike - eyed ten - beam of light technician caught a slight cranial anomaly in his skull . presently , his skull began to turn at a scandalous rate . Tests at the UCLA Medical Center discovered Rocky Dennis had an highly rare experimental condition call craniodiaphyseal dysplasia , also known as lionitis . The disease severely distorted his facial features due to his skull ’s abnormal growing , making his chief twice its normal sizing .
People MagazineThe first signs of Rocky Dennis’ rare condition did not appear until he was a toddler.
Pressure make by the abnormal Ca deposits in Dennis ’ skull push his eyes toward the edges of his nous , and his nose became stretched into an abnormal shape as well . The doctors told his mother Rocky Dennis would progressively become indifferent , blind , and hurt a severe mental disability before the weight of his skull destroy his mental capacity . Based on six other known cases of the disease , they predicted the son would n’t live past seven .
Wikimedia CommonsDespite the lifespan sentence he get from doctors , Rocky Dennis last a full life well into his teens .
Rusty Dennis , a no - nonsense and street - savvy biker , was n’t having any of it . She enrolled him in public school at the age of six — against recommendations from doctor — and raised him as if he were any other boy . Despite his stipulation , Rocky Dennis turned out to be a star student who regularly ranked in the top of his category . He was also popular with the other kids .
Wikimedia CommonsDespite the life sentence he received from doctors, Rocky Dennis lived a full life well into his teens.
“ Everybody liked him because he was very rummy , ” his mother say of her son in aninterview with theChicago Tribunein 1986 .
At the Southern California summertime inner circle for handicapped children he attended , Dennis took home hatful of titles and trophy after being vote “ best sidekick , ” “ most good - natured , ” and “ friendliest camping bus . ”
Dennis’ Growing Pains As A Teen
Against all odds , Rocky Dennis survived well into his stripling , a feat that can mostly be credited to the courageousness and spirit his mother infuse in him while grow up . As a teenager , he also developed a potent sense of humor about his own condition , often joking about his appearance whenever kids or even adult pointed it out .
“ Once he come in from the playground crying because ‘ the kids are calling me ugly ’ … I told him when they laugh at you , you express joy at you . If you act beautiful , you ’ll be beautiful and they ’ll see that and bonk you … I believe the universe will bear out anything you need to conceive . I learn both my small fry that . ”
accord to his mother , Halloween was aspecial timefor Dennis , who would lead a chemical group of neighborhood kids to trick - or - handle . On their candy run , he pulled prank on unsuspecting neighbors by hazard to wear more than one mask . After taking off the fake mask he was wearing , the candy givers would realize the joke when he would feign surprisal when he could n’t take off his second “ mask ” after pulling at his own face . “ Rocky always bring lots of confect , ” Rusty raved of her son ’s dark sense of humor .
Maggie Morgan DesignThe teen’s story was also adapted into a musical of the same name which premiered in 2008.
Dennis had a strong sense of ego as a teenager even with his grave physical deformity . When a plastic sawbones offered to run on him so that he could take care more “ normal , ” the adolescent declined .
Maggie Morgan DesignThe teen ’s story was also adapt into a musical of the same name which premiere in 2008 .
Still , kid made playfulness of his looks , and doctors and teacher always tried to oblige him back . In next-to-last high schooltime , his teacher tried to transfer him into a particular want school alternatively , but his mother would n’t allow it .
People MagazineRocky Dennis’ extraordinary struggle with his deformity was adapted into the filmMask, starring pop star Cher who played his mother.
“ They tried to say his intelligence was afflicted , but it was n’t true , ” Rusty Dennis recalled . “ I think they wanted to keep him out of the classroom because [ they think ] it would discommode the other kid ’ parents . ” But Rocky Dennis carry on to surpass and even graduated next-to-last high school with honors .
Despite living a largely normal life , Rocky Dennis made countless visits to the doctor . By the fourth dimension he was seven , the boy had made 42 trip just to the centre doctor and start through countless examination so doctors could supervise his progress .
When Rocky Dennis scan a book out aloud in front of his centre doctor , who tell the boy would n’t be able to read or spell because he would be unsighted — Dennis ’ 20/200 and 20/300 imagination legally qualified him as such — according to his mother Dennis told the doctor , “ I do n’t think in being unsighted . ”
Universal PicturesTeen actor Eric Stoltz, who starred as Rocky Dennis inMask, received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal.
citizenry MagazineRocky Dennis ’ extraordinary struggle with his deformity was adapted into the filmMask , starring tonic star Cher who played his female parent .
His mother gave him natural remedies like vitamin and alfalfa sprout and raised him on the philosophy of self - healing through force of belief . Whenever his stern headaches chance , she sent Dennis to his room to rest , advising to “ make yourself feel better . ”
Yet , there was no denying his declining health . His headaches worsened and his figure sabotage . So apparent was the change in his usually upbeat demeanor his female parent could sense that her son was nearing his end . On Oct. 4 , 1978 , Rocky Dennis died at the age of 16 .
Vintage News DailyCher won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival Awards for her role as Dennis’ mom, Rusty.
How The True Story Of Rocky Dennis Compares WithMask
The outstanding write up of Rocky Dennis ’ perseverance and the particular alliance he shared with his female parent caught the eye of Anna Hamilton Phelan , a youthful screenwriter who saw Dennis while natter UCLA ’s Center for Genetic Research .
The solvent of that clash was the biopicMaskwhich premiered seven years after Rocky Dennis ’ death . The moving-picture show , direct by Peter Bogdanovich , starred teen actor Eric Stoltz as the ailing teen and belt down ikon Cher as his mother , Rusty . The motion-picture show pull ahead praise from both critics and general audience .
Because of the complicated prosthetics he get into to play the role , Stoltz often stayed in costume as Rocky Dennis even during motion-picture photography fracture . According to Stoltz , seeing people ’s reply as he walked around the boy ’s old neighborhood , where the film was shoot down , give the doer a coup d’oeil into the belated teenager ’s biography .
“ People would not be entirely kind,”Stoltz said . “ It was a very peculiar lesson to take the air a mile in that son ’s shoes . world revealed itself to be a bit ugly , at meter . ”
Universal PicturesTeen actor Eric Stoltz , who starred as Rocky Dennis inMask , received a Golden Globe nominating speech for his portrayal .
While Hollywood no doubt take liberties to dramatize Dennis ’ life tarradiddle , some events portrayed in the film did pass . The real Rocky Dennis was indeed besiege by his female parent ’s solemn biker ally grow up . The Nox Rocky Dennis died , his mother and her biker friends did throw a company for him . The heartfelt poem Dennis ’ character reads to his mother in the film was also real .
Of course , like any other motion-picture show , Maskadjusted some realities for cinematic intent . For one , the movie did n’t admit Dennis ’ half - chum , Joshua Mason , who later die from AIDS .
In the movie , Dennis ’ mother finds his exanimate body in bottom the next morning but in reality , Rusty had been at her lawyer ’s office to prepare for her DoD against a drug will power charge she was confront . She was narrate of her Logos ’s destruction by her then - lover and previous husband , Bernie — portray by Sam Elliott in the picture as Garr – , who called her to deliver the tragical news show .
Vintage News DailyCher pull ahead Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival Awards for her role as Dennis ’ mummy , Rusty .
In the film , Rocky Dennis is buried with baseball cards tucked into the heyday on his grave accent but his body was actually donated to UCLA for medical research and subsequently cremated .
Rocky Dennis did n’t get to hold out a long life sentence but he lived it to the total . Through his humour and gentle perseverance , the teen showed others that anything is possible so long as you believe in yourself .
“ It ’s been scientifically prove that energy ca n’t be destroyed — it just takes another physique , ” his female parent said after his death .
Now that you ’ve register the fascinating life-time of Rocky Dennis , the deformed teenager who exhort the movieMask , meetJoseph Merrick , the tragic “ Elephant Man ” who just wanted to be like everybody else . Next , see the truth ofFabry disease , the condition which made a 25 - twelvemonth - old seemingly historic period backward .
